There were 65 teams, more than 1,300 athletes, and the feel of a state championship meet without team scores.

It wasn’t a state meet, but it sure felt like one.

There was also wind, and a lot of it. Nevertheless, the 11th annual Mullen Runners Roost Invitational track and field meet Saturday at Mullen High School was a gala all its own.

“What you get out of it is that you get primarily the best of the 4A and 5A and a lot of extremely good 3A,” Mullen coach and meet director John Hancock said. “This is a meet for the kids. A lot of them are coming off spring break and are now just getting into the swing of things. It’s special.”

That it is. But it was also cold, especially when wind blew through Brother Bernard Kinneavy de La Salle Stadium late in the afternoon.

“The wind is brutal . . . tear-inducing,” said Conifer’s Emily Blok moments after her victory in the 400-meter girls invite. Blok, momentarily, felt the effects of a grueling race coupled with the challenging weather. But it wasn’t enough to keep her from coming back and racing later in the day in the 100 invite.

She finished second to Kayla Fisher-Taylor after the Montbello sprinter edged her at the finish line.

The wind, evident to the runners entering turn two and going down the backstretch, wasn’t much of a factor in the 100 — run solely on the front stretch and with the wind at their back, Blok said.

“I really didn’t notice it. I was more distracted by the false start,” said Blok, who was still feeling ill before the race but said she felt better afterward. “I’m not sure I’ve ever run against the girl from Montbello before. She deserved it. A great race.”

Blok, named the girls MVP, avenged the defeat with a victory over Fisher-Taylor in the 200 invite. Mullen’s Laura Palmere finished third.

The boys MVP was D’Evelyn’s Kevin Williams, who won the 1,600 and 3,200 invites. In the 1,600, Williams won with a time of 4 minutes, 19.10 seconds. He set a meet record — one of three set on the day overall — in the 3,200 with a time of 9:12.64, shattering the old mark of 9:29.91.

Two other records fell. In the boys pole vault, Chase Cooper of Smoky Hill won the event with a leap of 16 feet. He broke the previous mark of 15-2 set two years ago by his older brother, Kirk. In the girls 800 invite, Chaparral’s Kirsten Lake ran a record time of 2:18.06.

Saturday’s meet, which began at 8:30 a.m., ran like, well, the wind. Events were constantly ahead of schedule early in the day, but by the nine-hour meet’s final event, the boys 1,600 relay, things had fallen off the pace.

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